The compelling need for clean energy from renewable natural resources has led to many ingenious approaches to the harvesting of energy from ocean waves. Recognizing that, if the technology to harvest this new frontier of alternative energy is to ever become both cost effective and environmentally acclaimed, many issues needed to be addressed and resolved technologically within one system.
The first issue needing attention was the costly duplication of such components as hydraulic pumps, gear motors and generators generally associated with each unit of a wave energy converting power plant. This was solved by designing the system to be in a series and eliminating every component from each unit of the series which could otherwise be handled by just one of that component for all the units of the entire series.
Second, the series would need to harvest the energy from the entire breadth of the approaching waves rather than just a cross section. This was solved by deploying the series laterally to the waves (parallel to the shore).
Third, the series would need to be designed to be as small as possible and yet still harvest the maximum wave energy for its size. This was solved by deployment close to shore where the waves stack up and the lengths become shorter due to the contour of the bottom. In the area just beyond the breaker zone, the smallest possible units can harvest the wave energy where it is most concentrated.
Fourth the series would need to be strong and resilient to withstand the extreme forces lateral deployment just beyond the breakers would subject it to. This was solved by the use of two parallel pontoons, supporting pyramidal structures from which in turn is suspended a weighted pendulum.
Fifth, being deployed so close to shore, the effect that the by-product of such efficient wave energy conversion (depleted waves), would have on the beach being harvested would have to be addressed. A coastal community that is loosing revenue derived from tourism due to the erosion of their beach from the turbulent release of energy from waves crashing on their beach (putting the sand into suspension for the along shore current to carry away), would be thrilled to have a system deployed which would not only produce clean energy from a renewable resource but replenish and protect their beach to a gradually sloping natural contour in the bargain. But, once their beach was replenished, the series would need to be easily removable so the beach over the years would not become so large that tourists need a camel to cross the beach and get to the water. It would need to be easily removable for two more reasons, that the view of the seascape by tourists not be obscured and that the full strength of the waves should be available during tourist season for bathers and surfers to enjoy. (Note—The common approach to beach replenishment using dredging and pumping which is costly, tends to result in a beach profile which drops off sharply due to an effort to get the maximum beach area for the available beach replenishment funds. This sharp profile causes the waves to break abruptly, casting bathers and surfers headlong into the sand too often resulting in tragic spinal cord injuries). This need for mobility was accomplished by keeping the series free floating, tethered to buoys or anchored with simple common boat anchors thereby both avoiding the cost of permanent foundations on the ocean floor, ameliorating the environmental impact to the seabed and providing for ease of removal for deployment farther out to sea.
Sixth, the series being moved out to sea during the months of tourism needed to be adaptable to efficiently harness the ocean swells which have much greater wave lengths than the waves near the breaker zone, otherwise the series would be either functioning inefficiently or in down time sitting idle in dry dock. This potential loss of efficiency or down time was solved by engineering extensions to the pendulum with inclined plates extending beneath the ocean swells. The use of these extensions overcome the inability of such small units to straddle the crests and troughs of the broad swells as they did on the stacked up waves near the breaker zone which induced the swing of the pendulum. The extensions reaching down to the still water beneath the swells with inclined planes, allows the units to harvest the energy based upon the entire series being lifted by the swell while the action of the inclined planes beneath apply that force to the pendulum due to their being thrust by the upward pull, in the direction of their upward inclination.
Seventh, when the series is out at sea, a means of enabling the series to travel under its own power to areas of the ocean where there may be greater energy available from storms would be desirable. This was accomplished engineering a means of providing for a simple 90 degree turn of the extensions/planes to a fore/aft alignment thereby diverting the power which otherwise would be to the pendulum and the hydraulic cylinders instead directly to the forward propulsion of the entire series.
Eighth, while the technology of ocean wave energy conversion is very promising, it is still in its infancy. Our nation continues to rely upon other older non-renewable sources of energy. Offshore oil drilling carries with it, the inherent danger of potential spills and of those spills washing up onto beaches. A means of protecting the beaches from such ecological disaster would be an invaluable service to both the environment and the economies of coastal towns, dependant upon tourism. This was very simply accomplished by taking advantage of the fact that the wave energy power plant is meant ideally to be deployed in a continuous floating series, parallel to the coast, 24 hours per day 7 days per week. By simply adding a continuous apron extending beneath the surface several feet with a weighted edge along the side of the seaward pontoon, the entire system serves as an oil spill containment boom, capable of preventing not only oil but trash, debris and medical waste from washing up onto the beaches wherever its deployed.